SoRaspy: Blacks In NYC Not Regaining Employment As Jobs Rebound

Job recovery efforts have said to be on the upswing in New York City, and officials claim that all jobs lost during the recession are now replenished. Though that may be good news for some, black New Yorkers are still feeling the blow of unemployment.

The New York Times reports that according to the Federal Labor Department, “More than half of all of African-Americans and other non-Hispanic blacks in the city who were old enough to work had no job at all this year.”

Furthermore black New Yorkers spend longer finding employment than other races. This report shows that in comparison to blacks across the country that are regaining employment, in New York City unemployment remains high. Dr. James Parrott, chief economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute presented that only 49.2 percent of all working-age black women in NYC were employed as of May.

The report suggests that one causation for this issue could be that blacks were overrepresented in fields such as government, construction and manufacturing – which were hit the hardest.